One-fourth of small business owners fear their companies may not survive the recession, according to a poll by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation.

The principal danger is not lack of credit, but lack of sales. Forty-five percent of business owners say slow or lost sales is their most immediate problem, followed by the unpredictability of business conditions, cited by 23%.

“The fundamental small business problem is the poor economy, abetted by the drop in real estate values and the nation’s financial turmoil,” said William Dennis, the poll’s author.

While the federal government has taken steps to get credit flowing, only 9% of the business owners said they were unable to get loans.

Dennis said a better governmental solution would be a six-month payroll tax holiday to stimulate the economy and generate sales for small businesses.

Bid protests filed with the Government Accountability Office jumped by 17% in fiscal 2008.

GAO received 1,652 cases, but fewer than 300 were decided on the merits. Only 21% of the 300 were sustained, slightly lower than in past years. Many cases are dropped or dismissed before a decision, and the government sometimes chooses to negotiate a settlement. GAO said 42% of protestors reported they got “some form of relief from the agency.”

Part of the increasing caseload grew out of GAO’s expanded jurisdiction over task orders, public-private competition decisions and Transportation Security Administration contracts.

Your company’s points of contact with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) must choose a new user ID and password to access the system.

Primary and alternate points of contact will choose their own ID and password to replace their Trading Partner Identification Number (TPIN) login.

In addition, companies will be able to assign more than one maintenance point of contact who can access and update the registration.

Instructions for entering the new ID and password can be found at www.ccr.gov/FAQ.aspx#accounts.